Arrangement for supplying ink for a printing machine

ABSTRACT

A rubber roll picks up ink from an ink reservoir and supplies it to the cells of an anilox roller to completely fill the cells through the rubber roll exerting a selected adjustable pressure on the anilox roller.

United States Patent 1191 Schultz June 25, 1974 1 ARRANGEMENT FORSUPPLYING INK 3,155,037 11/1964 Haskin 101/364 FOR A PRINTING MACHINE3,168,037

' 3,283,707 11/1966 Greubel et a1. 101/364 x [75] Inventor: John E.Schultz, Cmcmnan, Ohio 3,433,155 3/1969 Norton 101/349 x 3,535,9326/1971 Granger. 101/350 [73] Assgnee' i g l M g? pmducts 3,587,4606/1971 Chambom. 101/350 x mcmnatb 3,613,578 10/1971 HeLlflCh 101/350 [22Filed; May 15 1972 3,688,694 9/1972 Preuss et a1 101/350 X [2]] Appl-253,345 Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Paul T.Sewell 52 us. c1. 101/350, 101/364 Attorney, Agent, Firm-40h" Schenk[51] Int. Cl. B41f 31/06, B41f 31/14 [58] Field of Search 101/349,350,351, 364, ABSTRACT 101/363, 367 A rubber roll picks up ink from amink reservoir and supplies it to the cells of an-anilox roller tocompletely [56] References Cited fill the cells through the rubber r01]exerting a selected UNITED STATES PATENTS adjustable pressure on theanilox roller. 2,374,096 4/1945 Heywood et al 101/350 1 Claim, 3 DrawingFigures PATENTED JUHZ 5 I974 SHEET 1' BF 2 Illllllll FIG.1

ARRANGEMENT FOR SUPPLYING tlNK J FOR A PRINTING MACHINE In my copendingapplication, Ser. No. 75,868,'filed Sept. 28, l970, now abandoned,having common Assignee, there is shown a printing machine in which ananilox roller rotates through an ink pan to pickup ink with the excessink being removed by a doctor blade. The doctor blade also prevents anydirty particles in the ink from entering the cells of the anilox roller.

While the printing machine of my aforesaid applica tion functionssatisfactorily normally, there are some instances in which the cells ofthe anilox roller are not completely filled with ink. It has beenpreviously suggested to decrease the speed of rotation of the aniloxroller to fill the cells but this has not functioned satisfactorily inall situations.

The present invention satisfactorily solves the foregoing problem byproviding an arrangementin which the cells of the anilox roller arecompletely filled so that there is sufficient ink to have the desiredprinting results. The present invention accomplishes this by utilizing aroll, which is separate from the anilox roller, to pick up the ink fromthe ink reservoir and transfer it to the cells of the anilox rollerunderpressure. This arrangement completely fills the cells of the aniloxroller and does not require the speed of rotation of the anilox rollerto be increased. It isonly necessary to selectively control the pressureexerted by the roll on the anilox roller to insure that the cells arefilled.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved ink supplyarrangement for a printing machine.

Another object of this inventionis to provide a pressure roll forcontrolling the supply of ink to the cells of an anilox roller of aprinting machine.

Other objects, uses, and advantages of this invention are apparent uponreading of this description, which proceeds with reference to thedrawings forming part thereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view, partly in elevation, of the inksupply arrangement of the present invention taken along line 11 of FIG.2.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the ink supply arrangement of FIG. I withsome parts omitted for clarity purposes.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view, partly in section, of a portion ofthe ink supply arrangement of the present invention. 7

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an ink supply arrangement ofthe present invention for use with. a printing machine of the type moreparticularly shown and described in my aforesaid. application whereinlabels are printed. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ma chine includes arear plate 10 and a front plate 11. Both of the plates 10 and 11 extendupwardly from a base in a manner more particularly shown and describedin my aforesaid application. Furthermore, as more particularly shown anddescribed in my aforesaid application, the machine includes a secondfront plate (not shown) extending upwardly from the base.

An impression cylinder 12 (see FIG. 1) is rotatably supported betweenthe rear plate 10 and the front plate 11 and cooperates with a printingcylinder 14 to cause printing on the paper passing between theimpression cylinder 12 and the printing cylinder 14. The printingcylinder 14 has rubber printing plates thereon to print the desiredinformation on the paper passing between the impression cylinder 12 andtheprinting cylinder 14 as more particularly shown anddescribed in myaforesaid application. Whilethe printing cylinder 14 is preferablyrotatably mounted in the manner more. particu- *larly shown anddescribed in my aforesaid application,

it should be understood that suchis not a requisite for satisfactoryoperation of the inksupplyarrangement of the present invention as anymeans for rotatably mounting the printing cylinder l4 may beemployed.

The printing cylinder 14 picks up ink from an ink supply roller 15,which is rotatably mounted between the rear plate 10 and the front plate1 1. The ink supply roller T5 is an aniloxroller, which ispreferablyformed of steel, that is engraved to have a number of cells per inchformed therein with each cell having the same periphery and depth.

The ink is supplied to the ink supply roller 15 from an ink pan 16 by apressure roll 17, which is rotatably mounted between the rear plate Ill)and the front plate 11. The pressure roll 17 has its periphery rotatethrough the ink in the ink pan 16 and then transfer it to the cells ofthe ink supply roller 15 by passing in contact therewith at aselectedlpressure.

The pressure roll 17 is formed of rubber so that its periphery incontact with the ink supply roller 15 is squeezed when the pressure roll17 .is rotated with the ing belt extending therearound for causing theimpression cylinder 12, the printing cylinder 14, and the ink supplyroller 15 to be driven in the manner more particularly shown anddescribed in my aforesaid application.

The ink pan 16 is formed of a different configuration than the ink panin my aforesaid application. However, the pan 16 may be supported in asimilar manner. Thus, the ink pan 16 has its front end resting on stops(one shown at 22), which are fixed to the rear plate 10. and the frontplate 11. The pan 16 has its side walls (one shown at 23) designed sothat the shafts for the ink sup ply roller 15 and the pressure roll 17are disposed above the side walls. Furthermore, the location of the pan16 is such that a doctor blade assembly 24 is disposed thereabove asshown in FIG. 1.

The pan has a pair of splash guards or fenders 25 disposed over slingercollars 26, which are thin plates mounted on the journal 19 of thepressure roll 17 and a journal 27 of the pressure roll 17. The slingercollars 26 stop the creeping of the ink along the journals 19 and 27 andprovide a larger surface from which the ink, which creeps from thepressure roll 17 along the journals l9 and 27, can be returned to theink pan 16 due to the splash guards 25 being disposed thereover.

The pan 16 has its bottom wall 28 supported by a pair of pins 29, whichare carried by the rear plate 10 and the front plate 11. The pins 29 areheld in position in the rear plate 10 and the front plate 11 by screws30. In the position shownin FIGS. 1 and 2, the pins 29 bear against tabs31 (see FIG. 1), which extend downwardly from the bottom wall 28 of thepan l6.

Accordingly, the pan 16 is locked in position when the screws 30 holdthe pins 29 against the tabs 31. Thus, it is only necessary to releasethe screws 30 and pull the pins 29 out of engagement with the tabs 31 toallow retraction of the pan 16 so that it ceases to be supported by thestops 22.

Because of the resiliency of the plastic material of the splash guards25, the pan 16 may be tilted to allow easy removal from its support. Inthis manner, the pan 16 may be removed for filling. Of course, it is notnecessary to remove the pan 16 for filling since the upper surface ofthe panels open except for the splash guards 25. However, removal of thepan l6 permits cleaning to remove any dirty particles therefrom.

The journal 27 of the pressure roll 17 has an eccentric 32, which is notcentered with the longitudinal axis of the pressure roll 17, connectedthereto. The eccentric 32 has a hub 33 attached thereto. The hub 33 isrotatably supported in the front plate 11 so that turning of the hub 33changes the pressure exerted by the pressure roll 17 on the ink supplyroller 15. Thus, rotation of the hub 33 by the handle 34 enables thepressure to be selectively controlled. It should be understood that onlya light touch of the pressure roll 17 with the ink supply roller 15 isnormally desired.

The doctor blade assembly 24 is continuously urged into engagement withthe ink supply roller 15 in the manner more particularly shown anddescribed in my aforesaid application. However, it is necessary to mountthe spring biasing arrangement on the front plate 11 rather than therear plate as in my'aforesaid application because of the location of thegears 18 and 20.

If the pressure of the pressure roll 17 on the ink supply roller wereincreased to increase the squeezing of the pressure roll 17, the doctorblade assembly 24 could be eliminated since the pressure roll 17 alsowould meter the ink. However, it is preferred that the doctor bladeassembly 24 meter the ink.

An advantage of this invention is that it insures that the cells of ananilox roller are completely filled with ink. Another advantage of thisinvention is that the ink is supplied to the anilox roll under anadjustable pressure.

For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodiment of theinvention has been shown and described according to the best presentunderstanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that changes andmodifications in the arrangement and construction of the parts thereofmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In a printing machine having a rotatably mounted impression cylinderand a rotatably mounted printing cylinder cooperating therewith to printmaterial passing therebetween, the improvement comprising incombination: front and rear plates forming the housing for the printingmachine; an ink reservoir for carrying ink therein supported betweensaid front and rear plates; stop means on said front and rear platessupporting one end of said ink reservoir; a removable lock pin on eachof said front and rear plates cooperating with said ink reservoir tosupport said reservoir with said stop means, said ink reservoir beingremovable from the printing machine when said lock pins are disengagedfrom said reservoir; a rubber pressure ,roll; journals rotatably mountedto said front and rear plate for carrying said pressure rolltherebetween and supported within said ink reservoir, said pressure rollbeing rotatable with said journal wherein the peripheral surface of saidpressure roll passes through the ink in said reservoir whereby a supplyof ink is carried thereon; an ink supply roll rotatably mounted betweensaid front and rear plates and spaced from said pressure roll such thatthe peripheral surface thereof is engageable with said pressure rollwherein rolling peripheral contact between said pressure roll and saidink supply roll transfers a layer of ink over the peripheral surface ofsaid ink supply roll; an eccentric connected with said journal to permitadjustment of said eccentric relative to the axis of rotation of saidpressure roll thereby selectively adjusting the peripheral contactpressure between said pressure roll and said ink supply roll; a collarmounted about said journals between the ends of said pressure roll andsaid front and rear plate to stop the creeping of ink along saidjournals; a pair of elongated splash guards flexibly mounted at one endto said ink reservoir, the other end of each of said guards respectivelybeing disposed over each of said journal mounted collars wherein ink isreturned to said ink reservoir from said collars; a doctor blade mountedbetween said front and rear plate and spaced from said ink supply roll,the blade being relatively engagable with said ink supply roll to meterthe ink on said ink supply roll to insure that a uniform distribution ofink is present on said ink supply roll; and the printing cylinderrotatably mounted relative to said ink supply roll for rollingperipheral surface engagement therewith wherein a uniform distributionof ink is transferred from said ink supply roll to said printingcylinder.

1. In a printing machine having a rotatably mounted impression cylinderand a rotatably mounted printing cylinder cooperating therewith to printmaterial passing therebetween, the improvement comprising incombination: front and rear plates forming the housing for the printingmachine; an ink reservoir for carrying ink therein supported betweensaid front and rear plates; stop means on said front and rear platessupporting one end of said ink reservoir; a removable lock pin on eachof said front and rear plates cooperating with said ink reservoir tosupport said reservoir with said stop means, said ink reservoir beingremovable from the printing machine when said lock pins are disengagedfrom said reservoir; a rubber pressure roll; journals rotatably mountedto said front and rear plate for carrying said pressure rolltherebetween and supported within said ink reservoir, said pressure rollbeing rotatable with said journal wherein the peripheral surface of saidpressure roll passes through the ink in said reservoir whereby a supplyof ink is carried thereon; an ink supply roll rotatably mounted betweensaid front and rear plates and spaced from said pressure roll such thatthe peripheral surface thereof is engageable with said pressure rollwherein rolling peripheral contact between said pressure roll and saidink supply roll transfers a layer of ink over the peripheral surface ofsaid ink supply roll; an eccentric connected with said journal to permitadjustment of said eccentric relative to the axis of rotation of saidpressure roll thereby selectively adjusting the peripheral contactpressure between said pressure roll anD said ink supply roll; a collarmounted about said journals between the ends of said pressure roll andsaid front and rear plate to stop the creeping of ink along saidjournals; a pair of elongated splash guards flexibly mounted at one endto said ink reservoir, the other end of each of said guards respectivelybeing disposed over each of said journal mounted collars wherein ink isreturned to said ink reservoir from said collars; a doctor blade mountedbetween said front and rear plate and spaced from said ink supply roll,the blade being relatively engagable with said ink supply roll to meterthe ink on said ink supply roll to insure that a uniform distribution ofink is present on said ink supply roll; and the printing cylinderrotatably mounted relative to said ink supply roll for rollingperipheral surface engagement therewith wherein a uniform distributionof ink is transferred from said ink supply roll to said printingcylinder.